Brokenwood’s Graveyard Shiraz upgraded to ‘Exceptional’

Last week saw the publication of Langton’s classification ‘V’ of the highest performing Australian wines as defined by their movements on the Australian auction market. Although essentially a market guide, the Langton’s classification is generally regarded as a list of the very finest and most collectable wines made in Oz. Revised every five years the classification was first introduced in 1991. Back then 34 wines were included, last week 123 wines made it to the list – 33 more since the last classification in 2005, reflecting the increased demand for fine Australian wine on the secondary markets in general as well as the sheer quality of the product at the top end.  

Chateau Haut-Marbuzet and Chateau Ormes de Pez are two of the most popular and tasty St Estèphe crus bourgeois you can find. They head up the bevy of excellent non-classed growth wines in the St Estèphe appellation and it was interesting to see how they both faired in the 2005 vintage.

Lafite, Carruades and Duhart-Milon sampled in March 2010

So the Bordeaux 2009 en primeur season finally ends in July with the release of the now fabled Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. Second tranche price – a shade under £14,000 [$21,000]. So the Bordeaux market is now in truly uncharted financial waters – this is surely a record price en primeur save of course for Petrus and Le Pin, though price comparisons are unfair as these are produced in such comparatively small volumes.

At a time when the Bordeaux 2009 is grabbing all the attention – this week Chateau Mouton-Rothschild ‘09 was released at a cool £8000 a case – it almost feels like that previous superstar vintage 2005 is being overlooked, certainly if prices are anything to go by. In fact 2005 is almost looking a bit undervalued, amazing considering the records broken in 2006 when those wines were first released. With that in mind I had a look at some of the wines that I bought back then just to see how that vintage is faring and to fill in some gaps in my tastings of them. All the wines were from the left bank and there was remarkable harmony and finesse to them all.